Acko is an under-the-radar startup that wants to disrupt India’s insurance industry through a digital-only model. This week it stuck its head above the parapet and announced that it has raised $30 million to get started on its bold plan.
Founded by Varun Dua, the man behind insurance comparison site Coverfox, Acko is designed as a wholly digital take on insurance in India. The… Read More

Apple has taken an important step in its longstanding goal of penetrating the world’s second largest smartphone market. The Wall Street Journal first reported that the company has completed its first trial run assembly of the iPhone SE in India – a key step in gaining a foothold for a market that has thus far proven elusive for the smartphone maker.
The company has since… Read More

Xiaomi is increasing its office retail presence in China as bids to gain ground stolen by rivals in its homeland, and now it is making that very same push in its second largest market, India.
The Chinese company, which is valued at $45 billion, suffered a tough time last year as sales growth slowed — Xiaomi, notably, didn’t go public with sales figures for 2016 — but India… Read More

Express Wi-Fi is one of Facebook’s many connectivity initiatives under its internet.org umbrella. Unlike more futuristic projects like the Aquila drone, though, the emphasis here is on existing Wi-Fi technologies and allowing local entrepreneurs to resell internet access. The company is currently trialing this project in India, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria and Indonesia. Read More

Indian health tech startup Lybrate has raised $3 million in new funding, according to a filing in the U.S., where it is incorporated.
Lybrate declined to comment on the filing, nor would it provide details of the investors who participated in the round.
Make what you will of that cagey response. The company last raised $10.2 million led by Tiger Global in July 2015, which is some time ago. Read More

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WhatsApp may be about to introduce peer-to-peer payments in India, its largest market with over 200 million users.
A report from The Ken, an India-based subscription media company that we recently profiled, claims that WhatsApp plans to use UPI, a cross-bank payment system backed by the government, to begin enable payments between users within the next six months.
“India is an… Read More

Apple is investing into the Indian ecosystem by opening its first App Accelerator in Bengaluru. The company announced plans to open this program back in May 2016.
Developers who sign up will get support from Apple’s team in India. Apple engineers will provide feedback, best practices and tools. There will also be presentations.
Once you’re selected into the program, it looks… Read More

Sweden-based startup Truecaller made its name as a nifty mobile app that helps people filter out unwanted phone calls and messaging, but now it is making a move to become a platform.
At a press event in India, Truecaller’s largest market based on its 150 million users, the company announced a series of partnerships, including a tie-in with Google which will see the U.S. Read More

Vodafone India has confirmed that it has reached an agreement to acquire rival Idea Cellular. The deal, which is being painted as a merger, will create India’s largest operator with some 377 million customers.
The company revealed it was in talks with Idea Cellular over a deal in January, and the coming-together was announced today. Subject to the relevant approvals, it is expected… Read More

Four former reporters and entrepreneurs are attempting to fix India’s “broken” business media landscape and simultaneously prove that there’s an audience — and business — for paying for quality journalism in the country. Read More

The battle for supremacy in India’s e-commerce space looks set to become a slug out between two gigantic global players: Amazon and Alibaba.
At stake is one of the world’s fastest growing internet markets. India’s online population is tipped to reach 450 million-465 million people by June 2017, according to a new report co-authored by the Internet and Mobile Association… Read More

Ambitious Chinese tech firm LeEco is downsizing its presence in India less than six months after founder Jia Yueting warned that the growth of some parts of its business had become unsustainable.
The company confirmed to TechCrunch that it has reduced its headcount in the country from over to 350 staff to a total of 80 today. A spokesperson said the size of the team is now “in line… Read More

AWS outage is affecting a lot of websites, like Quora and Giphy, humans are watching about 1 billion hours a day of YouTube, Hyperloop could be coming to India and Lux Capital closes a $400 million fund. All this on Crunch Report. Read More

Less than a month after Vodafone confirmed it is in talks to merge with Idea Cellular and create India’s largest mobile operator, one piece of M&A has been confirmed in that space. Bharti Airtel has gobbled up smaller player Telenor India in a deal announced today.
The Airtel-Telenor deal is subject to regulatory approvals, but both sides said it should be completed within the next… Read More